Breathless
by Scarlet Lupin
Summary: Running for their lives was nothing new, but with two compromised helmets and a Galra base ready to depressurise Lance has to choose between his life and the person he loves, it's really a no-brainer.


Sprinting down the hallway, Keith at his side Lance knew they wouldn't make it. He could see the door shutting and they were too far but maybe...it would be close. Sucking in a sharp breath the blue paladin waited for just the right moment and then reached out and shoved the red paladin with everything he had, sending him flying forwards, hitting the ground and sliding under the door just before it slammed shut, locking with a very final sounding 'click'.

Keith immediately leapt up and spun to face the door, spotting Lance coming to a stop just on the other side of the glass and watching him with a sad smile. "LANCE!"

"Sorry Keith, we wouldn't both make it."

"Shut up! We could have both made it! Help me open the door."

Shaking his head the blue paladin just sat down on the other side of the glass and closed his eyes, listening to the distant sounding robotic voice counting down to the depressurisation of the base. It was okay though because Keith was safe, he was inside the airlock and that would remain pressurised till one of the doors failed. It was more important for Keith to be in there anyway, his faceplate was shattered, while Lances was only cracked, which okay wasn't great but it was better than nothing right?

Keith was still pounding on the door and Lance was doing his best to not listen to his distraught shouts, the countdown reached zero and a low hissing sound filled the hallway as it started venting atmosphere.

It took Lance a few ticks before he started to feel it, the tightness of his chest as he struggled to get oxygen into his lungs as efficiently as before. Grimacing he turned to Keith and watched the red paladin continue to pound at the glass for a few more ticks before reaching up and placing a hand against it from his side.

Keith paused and stared at his hand for a few torturously long ticks and just as he started to lower his hand, Keith's palm joined his against the glass, lining up almost perfectly.

Shivering slightly at the cold that had begun creeping into his suit Lance tried to lighten the mood a bit "hey mullet if I die tell Pidge she can finally have her headphones back, there in the top drawer of my desk."

"SHUT UP! You are not going to die!"

"Hey hey wow, chill out Mr-stabby-Mc-stab-pants, no need to get worked up. I was just making a joke."

"It wasn't funny."

Pouting and dramatically slumping back against the glass door Lance threw an arm over his face and wailed "oh woe is me, you wound me so deeply with your sharp words, deeper than any...blade." Just before he said blade he threw a brief suggestive look at Keith and grinned at his answering flush.

"Just shut up, you're wasting oxygen."

Rolling his eyes Lance asked, "any luck with the coms?" Because the thin spiderwebbing cracks on his own visor stemmed from the dent on the left side of the helmet and the forceful blow which had caused the damage had also completely taken out his coms, Keith's were intact however, it was just picking up static last he checked.

"No still just static."

"Damn."

Pausing the blue paladin sucked in several quick deep breaths but still felt like he was suffocating. Wincing and ducking his head slightly he tried slowing his breathing and heartbeat to not use so much air and found while still crushing the weight on his chest wasn't so bad.

"Hey, Keith...could you maybe talk for a bit?"

"About what?"

"Anything, just...need to be...distracted a little."

Huffing slightly Lance couldn't quite suppress the shiver of fear that swept through him at how much harder it was becoming to fill his lungs.

"Sure I guess. Um...I...I have no idea what to talk about...sorry."

Sweating now and yet still feeling chilled to the bone Lance took a second to reply as a sharp prodding pain made itself known just behind his eyes "what about...likes and dislikes."

"Oh yeah, I can do that. Okay so um yeah I guess my favourite food is ice cream and my least favourite would be cucumbers."

"Really? Who...hates cucumbers?"

"Me."

"Oh."

"Anyway my favourite colour is red and my least favourite colour is orange, I really hated the galaxy garrison uniform."

 **"...ance...Kei...do...ou copy? Lance, Keith do you copy?"**

"Pidge! Yes, yes we copy! We need extraction now! Both our faceplates are compromised and Lance is stuck outside the airlock!"

 **"Shit! Lance you idiot, we're coming right away, greens locked on your suits signals, we'll be there in just a few doboshes. Hold on, guys."**

"Oh hey...the coms...back u...p?"

"yeah Pidge said they'd be here soon but you seriously need to stop talking now and conserve oxygen, they won't be here for another few minutes."

"O...kay...I'm sleepy..." The blue paladin's voice petered out slurring towards the end, filled with a large amount of exhaustion and just a little fear.

"Shit! No Lance don't go to sleep! Stay awake! LANCE can you hear me? LANCE!"

"Keep...your hair...on...mullet...I'm not...dead yet."

"Damn it Lance don't say things like that! Pidge and Green will be here soon and then you and I will both be fine! Neither of us is going to die today."

A sharp flash of panic speared through Keith's chest when no reply was forthcoming and then he spotted Lance nod just a little, before twisting his body so he was leaning his side against the glass. Now he could see his face Keith was even more worried about Lance, he was pale and his eyes looked glassy and didn't appear to be focussing now either. Shivers wracked his body and he was practically gasping for air now, his face drawn gaunt with pain.

Dropping to the ground next to Lance, Keith placed his hand against the glass and started talking. Filling the silence with chatter about the garrison how Keith did remember Lance, narrating a couple of funny stories to prove it and then when he ran out of stories he starting trying to crack jokes. Most of them fell flat but the last one got a breathless chuckle from Lance and those blue eyes locked onto him with a startling amount of clarity.

"We...do...ma...ke...a...good...team...ight...mu...mullet?"

"You remember?!" No reply and Lance's eyes had slipped shut. "LANCE!" Still nothing. "LANCE!" Pounding both fists against the glass he could see the frost now, creeping along the edges of Lance's suit. "NO! LANCE! Please, no...don't...don't do this. Lance, we...we do make a good team. Lance." His voice cracked on the last repetition of Lance's name and then the world was warping, twisting and blurring in worrying ways until it eased a fraction and he felt wetness sliding down his face and he realised with a start he was crying.

He could see Green now but he was still panicking, was Lance still breathing? He couldn't tell. Oh god, what if he wasn't? They couldn't cope without Lance, he was a bit of an idiot at times and a goofball but he kept them all sane with his stupid jokes and and and no it just wouldn't...they needed Lance!

Waving frantically at Green he pointed at where Lance was slumped and was relieved to see Pidge alter their course slightly so they giant green lions jaws clamped down over that section of the base, there was a brief pause and then he spotted a section of wall fall in and Pidge was there, Bayard in hand.

When she spotted Lance she sprinted over, practically ripped his helmet off and slammed a plain white spare one over his head. Waiting impatiently for the hiss and click which signified the seal had formed before pressing their fingers firmly against his neck. Keith froze, every atom in his body straining impatiently for Pidge's reaction. When her shoulders slumped with relief, he relaxed a fraction and could finally just make out the minuscule movement of Lance's chest plate that indicated he was breathing now.

Sighing Pidge hurried back to Green's mouth grabbing another spare helmet before racing back to the airlock and starting to hack the door, in record time he was free and pulling the spare helmet on. Very carefully scooping up Lance's still form, the pair shuffled back to the lion. Rushing to get away from the base and back to the castle ship so Lance could go in a pod and make sure there would be no lasting damage from this little stunt of his.

The flight to the castle and the stumbling trip to the medical bay passed in a blur, leaving Keith pacing anxiously outside Lance's pod. Allura had said Lance shouldn't be in the pod more than a few Vargas because before the airlock neither Keith or Lance had been seriously hurt.

Pidge returned a few minutes later with Hunk, Shiro and Coran. "The princess needs to steer the castle but I thought we could all wait here together for Lance to get out. Then we can all ambush him together and tell him off for being a self-sacrificing idiot."

The group passed the time exchanging stories about Lance, Hunk of course had some of the best, having known him since well before the garrison, including some wonderfully embarrassing ones Keith made sure to remember in excruciating detail. Before they knew it two whole Varga had passed and the healing pod beeped twice before the door vanished with a loud 'whoosh'.

Lancing stumbled out and almost face planted, saved from this fate only by Keith's quick reaction time. Wide blue eyes blinked up at Keith and apparently, his mouth engaged before his brain as the first words he spoke were "oh whoops sorry didn't mean to fall for you like that."

"Are you...why did...what the...did you just flirt with me?"

Brain finally kicking in now Lance flushed the same colour as Keith's lion and stuttered a bit before finally just sighing and grumbling "oh hell" and then lunging upwards, lips smashing together in a harsh somewhat clumsy kiss.

It took a good few ticks before Keith's brain began working again enough for him to start kissing back, distantly hearing Shiro say something about 'giving them some privacy' and then he was much to busy to notice anything going on around them because there were hands in his hair, lips on his mouth and his body was pressed so tightly against Lance's he wasn't sure where he ended and Lance began.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

 **AN: Okay so yeah just thought I would post this little gem, it took me a grand total of maybe three hours to write so don't hate me if its shit, but just yeah I had to get this out of my head or I was gonna go nuts so here it is, I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review on your way out thanks.**

 **-SL** **xxx**


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